SAN
DIEGO (AP)—An increase in plastic debris floating in a zone between
Hawaii and California is changing the environment of at least one marine
critter, scientists reported.
Over
the past four decades, the amount of broken-down plastic has grown
significantly in a region dubbed the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch.” Most
of the plastic pieces are the size of a fingernail.
During
a seagoing expedition, researchers from the Scripps Institution of
Oceanography found that a marine insect that skims the ocean surface is
laying its eggs on top of plastic bits instead of natural flotsam like
wood and seashells.
Though
plastic debris is giving the insects places to lay eggs, scientists are
concerned about the manmade material establishing a role in their
habitat.
“This
is something that shouldn’t be in the ocean and it’s changing this
small aspect of the ocean ecology,” said Scripps graduate student Miriam
Goldstein.
The finding will be published online Wednesday in Biology Letters, a journal of Britain’s Royal Society.
Goldstein
led a group of researchers who traveled 1,000 miles off the California
coast in August 2009 to document the impacts of the garbage on sea life.
For three weeks, they collected marine specimens and water samples at
varying depths, and deployed mesh nets to capture plastic particles.
The
team previously found that nearly 10% of fish studied during the trip
had ingested plastic. The voyage was partly sponsored by the University
of California and National Science Foundation.
Thousands
of tons of plastic waste enter the oceans every year and break down
into smaller pieces over time. Some wind up in the Great Pacific Garbage
Patch, a vortex formed by ocean and wind currents.
The
garbage patch cannot be seen by satellite. Most of the plastic pieces
are confetti-sized flecks spread across thousands of miles of ocean and
are hard to see with the naked eye.
A similar plastic trash gyre was recently discovered in the Atlantic between Bermuda and Portugal’s Azores islands.
Source: The Associated Press
